“We’ve got to somehow slow the game up,” Graves said. “We’ve got to control the tempo, whether that’s with a very patient offense or whatever we have to do defensively to slow it up. If we can somehow eliminate several possessions from the game that gives us a better chance.

“I don’t think we can just go toe to toe with them, basket for basket. If we want to play that game we’re in trouble because they’re the best in the country at it.”

_________________Nnekalonians 1:14 - Thou shalt not accept that which is not earned

oregon definitely got the deck stacked against them. Two trips coast to coast with exams packed in the middle doesn't seem too fair. But they sound like they are just happy to be into the sweet sixteen. I think they arrived in Eugene around 4 am on Monday and had finals starting that morning and it seems they only got two practices in this week and are traveling today. I wonder if they will even see the arena before the game. On the other hand I'm guessing that whatever Husky fans arrive early will be rooting for them.

_________________“Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.”
― Maya Angelou

If I'm Oregon, I am bombing 3's. You have nothing to lose as a 10 seed in the Sweet 16. Oregon has a lot of 3 point shooters and Maryland isn't that good at defending the 3.

If I'm Maryland I am trying to pound it inside. Oregon has a lot of height but its mostly freshmen who haven't been in the college strength & conditioning programs for long, so they may not be able to handle the physicality of Brionna Jones, her sister, and Maryland's other posts. My guess is Oregon plays a zone and packs it in which could work but unlike Duke I think Maryland doesn't have as many players you can just avoid guarding.

I thought this game would be closer than the seeds indicate but the betting action doesn't agree. I think the line was around 10 but now I see Oregon as 14 point underdogs. Not as bad as Quinnipiac vs. SC, but not great for the underdog.

The majority of OR s game is in the paint, they have a few bigs and Hebard IMO is there best freshman, but McGwire is better at the little mid range pop which could be a difficult guard for 1 of the Jones.

I wonder if this is (once again) a result of the competition you play against. The PAC is in general really about defense. It can be totally ugly, but effective. I think the B1G is more about offense so they haven't faced ugly defense so much.

The key is Jones. She was the only one really effective for the Terps. They need to get her the ball inside. And Shatori needs to wake up.

But in general I gotta hand it to the Duckettes.

_________________“Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.”
― Maya Angelou

Maryland not looking so good against an above average defense. Their transition has been taken away, and the Ducks have the more sophisticated half court offense. Terps literally hanging on so far with Jones's offensive rebounding and put backs.

Maryland may still pull this out, but they have been the most overrated team in the country all year. They're not playing Towson or Iowa any more.

Oregon showed they can play the way they took down Duke and Washington. They're not Baylor, but they can play. And they have a coach.

Graves said in his pregame radio show that he believed they could exploit Maryland's defense, that they don't play defense with the same "passion" as they play offense. He appears to have been right. What is surprising is how flat Maryland's offense has been.

And making in-game or halftime adjustments is not Brenda's forte, although she probably has the pom poms out in the locker room.

When your most noteworthy performance of the year is a loss, there's not much more needs to be said.

That said, if they start making some shots, they can score a lot and still win this. I think they can outscore Oregon if they play their offense as if they were back in the Big 10.